Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Lyon have said their supporters to expect little in the way of transfer market action this summer, with purse-strings being tightened following 3 years of under-achievement.

"There won't be much motion," stated Bernard Lacombe, an advisor to Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas, in an interview with the club's television channel. "We're seeming for an extra defensive midfielder to provide competition for Maxime Gonalons, as well as a central defender.

"In previous years, we have frequently paid a lot of money to sign good players who we have then sold on for a benefit," Lacombe went on. "In the last 3 years we have spent a lot of money, and gained nothing. There are players we would like to move on, but they don't want to go away as they are gaining very good money here. There's no point waiting for us to spend large sums on top-level players because we simply can't afford it now", Lacombe kept on, ruling out any prospect of a move for Barcelona and Argentina defender Gabriel Milito, who had been linked with the club.

Despite his stark assessment, Lacombe, a prolific goalscorer with Lyon, Saint-Etienne and Bordeaux during his playing days, insisted OL "will remain challenging, with the objective of qualifying for Europe again next year".

Lyon, who earlier this summer appointed the rookie Remi Garde as their new coach after the departure of Claude Puel, have yet to sign any new players with the start of the season now less than 3 weeks away. French international midfielder Jeremy Toulalan has been sold to Malaga for €10million, while Aly Cissokho, Kim Kallstrom and Michel Bastos have all been linked with moves away from the club.

Meanwhile, Lyon are still looking to discover whether playmaker Yoann Gourcuff will require an operation to cure a niggling ankle complaint that has prevented him from featuring in pre-season so far. Gourcuff displayed up well in a fitness test on Monday, but Lacombe told that a decision on whether the former Bordeaux man needs to go under the knife should be taken "within 3 or 4 days".

"We must not make too hasty a decision, but we also can't afford to leave it too long," admitted Garde. "If he has an operation then he will face a race to be fit in time for the UEFA Champions League play-off [first leg to be played on August 16 or 17]."